Olympic mountain biker Juli Furtado is launching a womens specific Juliana brand of bikes, to be built by Santa Cruz.

Furtado has worked at Santa Cruz for a while, managing sponsorships and such, and has had a line of Juliana branded components from Wylder and a 26″ version of the Santa Cruz Superlight since the early 2000′s. Now, word is she’ll be at Sea Otter to kick off some new bikes. From the looks of it, it’s a 29er based on the recently introduced Superlight 29, but with more standover and female friendly geometry and components. For an early bit on the brand, check out the story from Santa Cruz Sentinel (with more pics). We’ll be at Sea Otter and get all the techy goodness next week.

Comments

ifbikes - 04/12/13 - 3:05pm

Might be a silly question, but I don’t understand the increased stand over in women’s bikes. Women proportionally have longer legs then men at the same height, meaning longer inseam, and less need for stand over clearance. If anything men need more stand over clearance in any similarly sided bike. This isn’t a town bike, women buying this aren’t stepping through the frame.

Your Face - 04/12/13 - 3:17pm

It was awesome watching her crush everyone.

Short Girl - 04/12/13 - 3:48pm

I don’t know about inseams of women compared to men, but as a short woman, I personally appreciate generous stand over height. To me, the thing about a women’s specific bike is that everything, not just stand over height is more proportional to a female rider. Many bikes seem to be built to the average male, so even a small unisex frame is too big for someone like me. They don’t typically make a unisex/male bike for people who are just barely over 5 feet tall. I like that more companies are putting out bikes for us shorties as it gives a better riding experience.

Sevo - 04/12/13 - 3:52pm

ifbikes-Because there is no reason not to increase standover clearance on all bikes. Women hurt just as much as we do if they hit themselves. And I for one feel more daring on a low slung top tube bike than one I barely clear.

don - 04/12/13 - 3:56pm

Fond memories of Juli and her GT dominance days. My first high end rig was a GT Xixang, Judy SL and it rocked.

Juli, please get SC to deliver high end women’s carbon bikes. A29r womens superlight covers the lower end of the race market.

Would love to see a 650b Carbon VPP women’s race model for my daughter. Trek makes a small Suprfly 100 but not to many other 29r carbon frames for women 5’5″ or shorter.

don

Dale - 04/12/13 - 4:36pm

Cool, love seeing more good stuff for women. My wife rides XS men’s Giant frames and kicks ass on them, but she is tall and thin, and has harrow hips so it’s a good fit. I did think though when fitting her road race bike the other day that she has a short torso and long legs, and used slightly less drop than a man her size would (and she is super flexible). I was also thinking that they need more high end, or race specific women’s geo frames available.

I hope they offer another option in a 26 inch XS size, with VPP and dropper post routing. An XS Blur TR would do the trick for my GF, whether they called it womens specific or not.

binny bin - 04/12/13 - 5:42pm

very exciting news! Juli knows bikes and has always been a hero of mine. i wish her nothing but the best and success!

Greg - 04/12/13 - 9:44pm

Padha,
you are correct about leg length proportionality being similar in men and women. I think they are trying to increase standover to simply offer smaller sizes, as the average woman is shorter than the average man.
the main proportion difference between genders is in arm length- women tend to have shorter arms for a given height, which is why having a bike with a shorter reach and taller head tube for a woman generally makes sense.

Mark - 04/12/13 - 10:35pm

Watched Julie at Mammoth in 95, coming in for her final lap. She looked over her shoulder to see how far back Paola Pezzo was in second place, and then slowed down to slap the hands of a bunch of spectators along the tape line. Best finish ever, and she was all grins. Go Julie!

Julie has always been a hero and inspiration for me. Glad to see her being a bit more prominent in the cycling world. Her own brand! Awesome. Rock on Julie!

Slow Joe Crow - 04/15/13 - 6:22pm

@ifbikes, my wife who is 5’1″ with a 27″ standover would strongly disagree. Especially after we just spent the weekend putting 26″ wheels on her CX bike to get some standover clearance.

Simon Kolin - 04/16/13 - 3:28am

Interesting that the best credit SC can come up with is “Olympic Mountain biker” when in truth she’s the most awesome mountain biker ever! In 1993 she one every world cup race she entered. Ironically, she didn’t win the world championship that year. What a phenomenal athlete and a real joy to have her back.

Jim Blakley - 06/07/13 - 10:37pm

Hey Juli,

Just wanted to say hi. I know your a very busy person. If you get time drop me a line. Wow that damn near rhymed…well I can’t spell yet so I’ll give up writing.

Jim

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